(First lesson: Do not obey in advance.)
Snyder predicted thatDonald Trumps 2020 election loss could lead to a coup attempt.
We have to talk about it as though its going to happen, Snyder says.
Trump supporters clash with police as people try to storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021.JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/Getty Images
Because that also prepares us.
Were not allowed to get shocked.
The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
This is our third Trump presidential election rodeo.
What have you observed?
Trump in 2016, he thought he was going to lose, right?
And it wasnt so bad for him if he lost it.
But by 2020 hes thinking, Ive done lots of terrible things as president.
And, I could well be prosecuted.
And, I like being president.
So in 2020 he has the standard dictatorial incentives [to take a stab at hold power].
Because the incentives were so obvious and the guy is so obviously ruthless and without scruple.
And thats the through-line.
What is your forecast for Election Day?
Its important for people to understand that regardless of what happens Trump is going to say he won.
Given past behavior, it seems all but certain that hes going to do this.
And theres a perversity to that.
Because if you wait to see if he does it, then you dont make the plan.
Thats something that worries me about Americans.
Were constantly giving Trump a second chance, a third chance, a 500th chance, a 1,000th chance.
Instead of thinking: OK, the guy always does certain things.
Lets make a plan based on the fact that hes going to do it.
Because thats the way it played out last time.
It appeared pitched at riling up the base for the day after.
Madison Square Garden was not about getting the vote out.
It was about priming people for the notion that [Kamala] Harris cant win.
Of course, she could very well get 85 million votes or more.
And therefore we have no choice but to take drastic measures.
And therefore, whatever Im about to do is OK, because theyve already cheated.
Thats the whole logic of Madison Square Garden.
Thats the psychological front: the notion that the other side started it.
And if they do it again?
Well, now theyve done it to our guy twice in a row.
And, this is completely outrageous.
Thats the psychological prep which is taking place.
You see this as calculated.
If you think about what happened in 2000 when Gore won and the Supreme Court gave it to Bush.
Why did anybody accept that?
We accepted it because of the anxiety of counting the votes for longer.
This is very stressful.
We need an end to this, right?
Trump understands that dynamic of violence and fear.
What theyre going to go for is violence to frighten everybody.
Those people really are going to carry out acts of violence.
We need to get it settled in a way that this terrible stuff stops.
It would be strange to me if there were not acts of violence.
And we have to talk about it.
We have to talk about it as though its going to happen, because that also prepares us.
Which is what cant happen.
